Hull City Manager Sergej Zakirovic believes they need 12-15 signings this summer to compete in the Premier League next season.
sports news Today is a comprehensive interview with the Hull City manager, in which he explains his plans for the summer transfer window.
Hull City Summer Plans
Sergej Zakirovic has become one of the most intriguing coaching stories in European football over the past year, thanks to his immense, unexpected success at Hull.
He took charge of Hull last year with the apparent luxury of remaining in the Championship or at least achieving a comfortable mid-table finish. Instead, they defied expectations and sent them into the playoffs in the first place Defeated Middlesbrough in play-off final.
It means he is now a Premier League manager and faces the difficult task of keeping the Tigers at the top. And to do that, he believes they need a big summer transfer window.
"We have calculated that the core structure of 12 players who have performed this season will remain in place, which means we need 12 to 15 reinforcements," he said.
“The owner and I talked, but he didn't say anything about money, we still have to sit down seriously.
"However, we know some information. As winners of the Championship last season, Coventry plan to invest around €40m in reinforcements, but they already have an expensive and strong team with which they have attacked the Premier League for two years.
"Ipswich are reportedly preparing around €80m. For comparison, Sunderland, as a newcomer to the Premier League last summer, invested around €120m in reinforcements and immediately finished seventh after winning the Europa League."
Spend €120 million like Sunderland?
While Sunderland could be a shining example of how to do it, Zakirovic does not believe Hull will have the same kind of spending power this summer.
He said, "Sunderland is my guiding principle, the club has identified excellent, conditionally, cheap, but very good players, mainly in Belgium and France."
Getting €120 million of reinforcements… It's already a dream, I don't believe we will have that much money, but we'll see. “Basically, there are no restrictions now, we can compensate.”
